Civil War Hotchkiss Artillery shell, recovered at the Spotsylvania, VA Battlefield

This is another nice piece being offered; it is a Civil War Hotchkiss artillery shell. The 3-inch Hotchkiss shells were made in three pieces – the nose, the lead band (sabot), and the base cup. It still has the zinc fuse present. The Hotchkiss was the most common type of projectile fired from the 3-inch wrought iron rifle. This piece was recovered years ago at the Spotsylvania, Virginia Battlefield.

The Battle of Spotsylvania was the second major battle in General Grant's 1864 Overland Campaign. Following the bloody but inconclusive Battle of the Wilderness, Grant's army disengaged from General Lee's army and moved to the southeast, attempting to lure Lee into battle under more favorable conditions.

Elements of Lee's army beat the Union army to the critical crossroads of Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia, and began entrenching. Fighting occurred on and off from May 8 through May 21, 1864, as Grant tried various schemes to break the Confederate line. In the end, the battle was tactically inconclusive, but with almost 32,000 casualties on both sides, it was the costliest battle of the campaign.

This shell is complete except for the lead sabot – they flew off shortly after being fired. It is a very clean and solid piece, and a light coat of varnish was applied for preservation. It has been professionally deactivated and is now 100% completely safe. In my book “Civil War Artillery – A Pictorial Introduction”, I show more of these shells and discuss them in more detail (see pictures).